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Effects of smoking |
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As regular readers will know I am not a big fan of
smoking. For almost two years I have been reaching out to readers from
this column to inform them about oral health. I have lost count of how
many issues have been mainly about smoking. The main reason for this is
the harmful effects of smoking are endless and tragic. During my
research I have come across some new piece of information with regards
to the harmful effects of smoking. New
Research from Denmark! New research carried out in Denmark has lead to new
findings on the harmful effects of smoking. The research has revealed
that during pregnancy should the mother smoke more than 10 cigarettes
this can then have serious repercussions which effect the unborn male
child later in life. It can cause the sperm count of the child to be
halved, compared to non-smoker mother's child. A
re-cap of the previous issues. Children are precious to their parents. No parent would
disagree with this. In any case it would be assumed that it is
incomprehensible to think that any parent would knowingly do their child
harm. Yet sadly majority of parents smoke next to their children or
allow others to. Therefore dictating the harmful effects upon them. If
people were able to grasp, to
really grasp the idea that smoking
kills or causes serious illnesses then I like to believe that they
would be more diligent when protecting their children from passive
smoking. It is a proven fact that smoking not only harms the smoker but
those around them. One choice an adult has is to leave an environment
s/he is not comfortable with but children are not aware of risks and
unable to make decisions. Therefore it is the parents responsibility to
ensure a smoke free environment. Children inhale and exhale more often
than adults and their not yet developed lungs are more susceptible to
harm. The harmful toxins in cigarette smoke effect their immune system
more so than adults, leading to bronchitis, dry coughs and ear
infections, as well as breathing difficulties. Ladies; What is worse than smoking next to children is
smoking whilst pregnant. Generally smoking during pregnancy causes your
baby to be born with a weaker immune system making them vulnerable to
bacteria and illnesses. In addition to this with male babies, which is
the topic of my discussion today, smoking causes their sperm cc to be
half what it should be when compared to mothers who hadn't smoked during
pregnancy. Not great news, you could be dictating your child's future
and the grandchildren may take a little while longer to arrive if at
all. The research was carried during 1953-1955, in the University of Birmingham amongst 1,549 families who lost a child to cancer. According to research there is a link between whether the father smoked or not and the child developing cancer. It is suggested that as smoking effects the sperm make up this can lead to leukemia (blood cancer) in children and brain tumor. When the statistical findings of the two year research is observed it can be seen that when a father consumes 10-20 cigarettes per day this increases the risk of cancer in the child by 31%. The research named ''Oxford Survey of Childhood Cancers'' also shows that when the amount of cigarettes consumed by the father increases so does the risk of developing cancer for the child.
Smoking
during pregnancy reduces your babies sperm cc by half! In Denmark research is carried out on 300 middle aged
and healthy male subjects, in which their sperm cc is recorded. As part
of the research the participating subjects mothers are called in and
asked questions with regards to their cigarette consumption during the
pregnancy. The findings showed that subjects whose mothers smoked 10 or
more cigarettes during pregnancy had nearly half the sperm cc in
comparison with the subjects whose mothers did not smoke during
pregnancy. The results were revealed by Prof. Dr Jens Peter Bonde,
who works for the Aarhus University in Denmark, who also explained that
the toxins found in cigarette smoke effects the unborn child during the
growing and developing stages and seems to also cause the
underdevelopment of sperm in the male child; in addition to other
undesirable effects. These are the first findings but no doubt will be followed by more proof and facts once it is researched more thoroughly and extensively. It should come as no surprise if they find more harmful effects of smoking. Smoking out of choice or passive, you will suffer the effects of smoking and I hope you will not inflict it on your children. They will not be grateful later on in life, don't give them an excuse to blame you for how they turn up. Give them a healthy start and hope for the best and that they are grateful for your care and dedication. Take care, of yourself and family. |
